Pedro Chirivella
Pedro Chirivella Burgos (born 23 May 1997) is a Spanish footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Liverpool. Liverpool career Liverpool signed the highly-rated Chirivella from Valencia in July 2013. Described as 'the best talent to come through the ranks at Valencia in years,' Liverpool had to beat off competition from the likes of Barcelona and Manchester City to land his signature. Liverpool reportedly offered Valencia compensation of £2,000,000, however the actual fee would require settlement by an arbitration panel as Valencia demanded more. Chirivella operates as a central midfielder and- despite possessing attacking talent- he usually sits deep and has been likened to Barcelona star Sergio Busquets and former Liverpool favourite Xabi Alonso. He made his Liverpool debut alongside fellow new Spanish recruit Sergi Canos as a substitute on 23 July 2013, in an U18s 4-1 pre-season friendly victory over Birmingham. Chirivella tasted success early in his Liverpool career, as he captained the U17 side that lifted the Milk Cup Globe during July/August 2013. Chirivella has been made to wait to compete competitively for the Reds, with the club waiting for international clearance. Chirivella's clearance arrived in time for the midfielder to make his competitive debut against Southampton, in a 3-3 draw on 26 October 2013. Chirivella impressed in his debut season for the U18s, scoring three goals in 17 appearances. He quickly became involved with the U21s, and made four appearances for the team during their season. On 17 September 2015, Chirivella made his first appearance for the club, coming on as a 28th minute substitute in a 1-1 draw at Bordeaux. Chirivella didn't look out of place in the first team, and made a good first impression on the fans. Chirivella didn't play again until 8 January 2016, when he was brought on as a 57th minute substitute in a 2-2 draw at Exeter. On 9 February 2016, Chirivella made his first start for the club, playing around a hundred minutes in a 2-1 FA Cup defeat to West Ham. On 9 March 2016, Chirivella signed a new long term contract with the club. This was followed up with his Premier League debut on 1 May 2016, in a 3-1 defeat at Swansea. Chirivella did not put in a very good performance, and was substituted at half time. After failing to be involved in a first team squad for the 2016-17 season, Chirivella was loaned out to Dutch side Go Ahead Eagles for the remainder of the season. Chirivella then returned to the Netherlands the following year, spending the 2017-18 season on loan at Willem II. A pretty successful loan spell at Willem II had Chirivella return to Liverpool ahead of the 2018-19 season, but the midfielder appeared to not be in contention for any first-team spot, and January saw another loan move, this time to Extramadura in the Spanish Second Division. The Spaniard was unable to play for the club however, as the transfer documents had not been sent in time. Chirivella again returned to Liverpool, with his time seemingly up, not being included in the first-team squad for pre-season. No move away from the club materialised however, and on 25 September 2019, he made his first appearance in over three years, coming on as a substitute in a 2-0 win away to MK Dons. On 17 December 2019, Chirivella captained Liverpool for the first time, leading an extremely young Reds side to a 5-0 defeat at Aston Villa in the League Cup. Three weeks later, he played the full 90 minutes in a 1-0 FA Cup win in the Merseyside Derby. Stats External links * Category:Current Players Category:Midfielders